The present invention relates to apparatus used on fishing vessels by which fishing net may be retrieved and stored.
Fishing vessels which are used to catch fish during seasonal fish spawning runs or migrations, such as the annual salmon runs along the Pacific Northwest Coast of the United States, are typically in the 25 to 50 foot range and deploy nets into the water over the stern gunaale. These fishing vessels have a rear cockpit area defined by side walls and a stern end wall with the stern portion being fitted with a power reel member. The fishing net is wound upon a drum member which is fixedly mounted in a forward portion of the cockpit area. Upon deploying the nets, the net is wound from the drum member and through the power reel member into the body of water. Upon retrieving the fishing net, it may be affixed to the drum member and if the fishermen have experienced a light catch, the net may be wound directly upon the drum as it is moved from the water, with the fish being removed therefrom before the net is wound upon the drum.
However, if an extremely heavy catch has been made, two problems present themselves with the prior art system. Firstly, with the drum member securely affixed to the cockpit floor, a substantial portion of the area available for holding fish and fishing net is consumed by the drum member and its framework, with the result being that the fishing net and fish contained therein are retrieved onto the fishing vessel and deposited around and over the drum member. In this manner, the fish may not be removed from the fishing net and the net may not be wound upon the drum member until the vessel returns to shore. Secondly, because the drum member is unavailable for use during these heavy catch periods, the fishing net must be retrieved by hand into the cockpit area (with the assistance of the power reel member), significantly adding to the physical work load of the crew members.
If the fishermen are aware that a heavy catch will be experienced, they may remove the drum member from the cockpit area while at the dock, and proceed to remove the net from the water by hand into the fishing vessel. Therefore, in either case, when a large catch is experienced the drum member is not available for use in retrieving the fishing net, and the net may not be wound thereon for a period of time after the vessel reaches shore.
On certain of the extremely high yield seasonal fishing seasons there are very definite fishing boundaries established by local or federal regulatory agencies, which delineate those areas in which nets may be laid and those areas which must remain free of nets. If a fishing net or fishing vessel is observed within any of these prohibited areas, any protected fish found on the vessel or in the nets may be confiscated, and the owner may be liable for substantial fines or other penalties. After laying the nets in an area which is subject to daily tidal action, a fisherman equipped with a conventional fishing drum may have extreme difficulty in retrieving a fully loaded fishing net before it passes into the prohibited area. As tidal movement rapidly brings the net toward a boundary line, and with the drum member securely mounted in the cockpit of a fishing vessel, there is no time to return to shore to remove the drum, and since the net must be retrieved by hand, there is a possibility that the net may have to be cut away from a fishing vessel since the crew members are unable to retrieve it quickly enough.